


until we go down.

by haleylightwood



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 23:32:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10864422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleylightwood/pseuds/haleylightwood
Summary: Only in one timeline were they successfully able to kill the beast. What happened in timeline twenty-nine when they failed?





	until we go down.

**Author's Note:**

> I originally did this for the battle the beast contest but decided to post it here in addition. Hope you enjoy and as always feedback is appreciated.

Fillory, in all its glorious splendor, it put Narnia to shame and made Middle-Earth look like merely a playset. At least, that's what Quentin Coldwater was expecting as he and his friends dove into the fountain that would send them to the most magical place in existence. The group found themselves standing in the center of a small valley, seemingly in just another part of their own world. Quentin's breath caught in his throat and he couldn't help but grab Julia's hand.

"We're in Fillory," he marveled.

"Yeah, congratu-fucking-lations. You win the award for stating the damn obvious." Penny rolled his eyes and glanced around the valley angrily. "It looks like any other field."

"Not even a particularly nice one," Margo added.

Despite their negativity, Quentin and Julia were staring at each other, brimming with excitement. All those years spent wishing Fillory was real and now they were here. It didn't matter if it was just a normal valley. The grass was always greener on the other side and here in Fillory, the grass might as well have been glowing.

"Look, as much as I know we would all love to stand here and geek out over Fillory, with the exception of Margo and Penny, we kind of have a mission to accomplish," voiced Eliot, despite his tone they all knew he was being serious. Quentin felt Julia's hand slip from his as they all moved to stand in a circle.

"Now what?" Alice spoke for the first time since their arrival in Fillory, annoyance bleeding throughout her voice. "We should have come up with a concrete plan from the safety of Brakebills before we came here."

Margo snorted, "the safety of Brakebills? What school have you been going to these past months? Last time I checked the Beast could get us there or here, so why does it matter where we come up with the plan?"

"Okay, seriously? We can't fight each other, otherwise, there is no way for this to work," Julia interjected. "After everything we've done together at Brakebills, we can't let this be the thing that divides us. We need to be united more than ever."

"Alright, that's all fine and dandy but we still don't have a plan," snapped Penny.

Eliot stepped forward into the middle of the circle, turning slowly to make eye contact with each of his friends. "We're passed the time for planning. We are here and we are armed with the strongest battle magic that can be taught in only a few weeks."

Quentin moved forward a bit before speaking. "Eliot's right. We have to take action. Coming up with a plan isn't going to happen standing in the middle of a valley. A plan is going to form during the journey."

"Good speech, Braveheart, but where are we even journeying to?" Margo interrupted.

How hard could it be to find a man who's entire face was shrouded in moths? After a brief discussion, the group made the decision to begin their hunt for the Beast. As they made their way out of the valley, it became evident that Fillory was a lot darker than they had originally thought. At the edge of the valley, there was a treeline. They all figured that the trees would provide them with a sense of protection as if they were being shielded from the creature they were seeking out. They quickly began to realize, however, that the forest was not their ally.

Its allegiance lay with the Beast.

At some point as they journeyed there was a transition in vibe. Things had before been hopeful, despite all the odds, they had seen a way out of this alive. Now though, the only way out was starting to look a hell of a lot like a coffin.

They continued in silence, jumping every time the heard so much as a squirrel move.

Penny, who had been walking in the front leading the group towards their destination, stopped in his tracks. Confused, Alice moved to ask him what was wrong, but before she got a chance he slammed his hand over his ears and began grimacing and chanting under his breath, "get out of my head, get out," his words fumbling as he cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.

Alice without a second thought stood in front of Penny and began casting a spell that Quentin had never heard before, it was Arabic and the hand movements were more convoluted than any spell he knew. But whatever she was doing, wasn't helping. Blood began streaming from Penny's eyes and nose. As the blood dripped from his face it pooled on the ground in front of him, the small pool growing larger at an alarming rate. Alice's spellcasting became more frantic. Penny was teetering on the edge of consciousness, the blood loss quickly approaching the point of exsanguination.

Quentin felt a crushing weight on his chest as the atmosphere around them shifted. It was evident as they began backing away from Penny and Alice, that Eliot and Margo had felt the shift as well. Quentin made eye contact with Julia and he knew she'd felt it too.

"Congratulations, you finally made it to Fillory." The deep voice echoed through the trees, surrounding them and making it impossible to locate the speaker. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you looked at it, the Beast had no intentions of hiding his whereabouts. He stepped out into view, his usual cloud of moths swarming around his head, their flight patterns more chaotic than before.

The Beast moved his hand in a rapid series of motions. Alice, who hadn't stopped her spellcasting, froze in place. Her eyes were the only thing moving and as she looked to Quentin, her eyes begged for help. Before any of them could move to help her, the Beast ended his spell with a flick of his wrist. Alice's head snapped to the side and her broken body crumpled to the ground. As she fell, so did Penny, the loss of her spell causing him to instantaneously bleed out.

In seemingly one motion, the Beast sent Julia flying backward into a tree, a branch protruding from her abdomen. She moved her hands up weakly to grab the branch, but it only took a moment before her arms and head dropped limply as she lost consciousness. Quentin glanced over at Eliot and Margo to try and gauge the situation, but they were already taking matters into their own hands.

The two moved together, their arms and hands perfectly synchronized. The spell they were casting was clearly powerful, the look of strain was evident on both their faces as they tried to do the motions and keep it under control.

The Beast, however, just laughed as if he already knew they couldn't stop him, no matter how powerful the spell. He twisted his hands and raised them above his head, another movement of his fingers and then he jerked his arms down to his sides. With the completed motion the moths around his head shifted their attention towards the pair of magicians. His fingers began moving, but he kept his arms down. The moths began to swarm Margo and Eliot. The two fought to keep their focus on the spell, but they were swiftly overtaken by the moths. Quentin felt a small relief when the moths began to thin out, but his relief was short-lived. The moths forced themselves into the open mouths of his friends, disappearing into their throats.

Margo, being the smaller of the pair, dropped first, the moths having suffocated her easily. Eliot fell to his knees, his hands scratching at his throat and chest. His facial expression was pleading, begging for an end to his pain, but only for a moment. Soon after, his struggling grew weaker and weaker. His eyes went blank, the vibrant emotion that usually filled them never to be seen again.

Quentin was overtaken by shock, unable to think or move. His only friends, scattered across the forest. His family, slaughtered. "What's wrong, Quentin Coldwater? This is the twenty-ninth time I've killed all of your friends. Haven't you learned how to stomach it yet?"

The Beast stepped closer to Quentin. For the first time, he saw the Beast's face. He looked like any other man, completely ordinary. "You need to let go of emotions Quentin. Your heart is your problem." As the Beast spoke his hands began to move. Quentin felt his heart start throbbing as if an anvil had been placed on his chest. The pressure began growing heavier, causing him to be short of breath. He grabbed his chest with one hand, the other gripping onto the Beast's shoulder for support. "Keep thinking with your heart and I'll keep breaking it. " He fell on the ground, unable to support himself anymore. The whole world was fading, his vision blurring.

As he lost consciousness, his final thought was of his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. If you would like, please leave me a comment telling me what you liked or didn't like.


End file.
